The Sixth Generation
by Shadow the Impaler
Summary: For the original Digidestined, it's been six years. For the Digital World, it's been over 8000. Bandits, cults, evil organizations, and Digimon that have seemed to been spat out of Hell itself.
1. Prologue

Prologue

It's been six years since the defeat of Lucemon...

...for the Digidestined at least. But the fabrics of time between the two worlds have changed drastically since that fateful day. So where only six years have gone by for those five humans, 8,640 years have passed in the Digital World. Empires and cities have risen and fallen, legends, religions, and even evil groups have come and gone, wars were waged, peace was made, some Digimon have become extinct from the planet, and new species have risen in their absence. But in that time, nothing as severe as the events 8,640 years ago has occurred again, or at least nothing has ever effected the human world since then.

But that was all about to change.

A solitary figure hovered across the barren wasteland, an aura of despair surrounding wherever it moved. It was near impossible to identify who this was; pitch-black robes surrounded its body, obscuring its features. A light armor of the same color protruded from its chest and shoulders, coming round to join and form some sort of black helm. When it finally stopped moving, it looked around, hoping to see another approach it. A few seconds later, an ironclad figure began to walk down the abandoned road that stretched across the wasteland. It's armor formed all around its body, and held a large shield on its back; the build of a Knightmon. This Knightmon had two distinct differences from other ones though: where an orange crest in the shape of an eagle usually lay, a steel breastplate was worn, with the symbol of steel printed on the front. The second odd quality about him was two pieces of red armor on each of his shoulders, which ejected many sharp, small spikes.

When the Knightmon finally reached the black figure, the robed being looked up at the new arrival. "It's good to see that your people decided to cooperate," it said in a raspy, yet very dark voice.

"Well," the Knightmon began, "from what that messenger of yours said, you can provide the requirements for what we need..."

"Of course, but we'll need something in return," the figure replied, "and I'm relieved that your leader sent _you_ out of all his followers to meet me here today."

"And why is that?" Knightmon asked curiously.

"From what I hear," the robed being continued, "you're a knight of the kingdom of Latriya, am I correct?"

"Yes, but why does it matter?" the knight asked.

"Why? Because you were the only one of your people who could...you _do_ have it, don't you? And your group's one as well?" the figure asked.

"Have...what?" Knightmon asked, beginning to worry.

"You..._don't_ have it?" the being asked, an ominous aura emitting from the folds of his robes. "You don't have the two keys with you?"

"Wh-what keys?" Knightmon stuttered.

"Those keys were what me and my comrades expected to receive in return for supplying for your cult!" the figure said, its voice as dark as ever.

"I was not told to bring any 'keys'," the knight said, trying to regain his disciplined stature. Fear is not an option for knights. "But I assure you, the next time we reconcile, I will have what you and your companions are searching for."

"See that you do," the dark figure replied, "or else, along with the denial of what your people want..." The being then pulled out a small clear orb, where a small mammal-like Digimon seemed to be contained in. After it touched the orb, the Terriermon inside re-materialized in front of them. It began to gasp at the sight of the two oppressive figures, but barely released any breath before being struck with a golden scythe, and dematerializing into thousands of bits of data.

"I understand," Knightmon said in response to this foreboding threat. Turning from the robed figure, Knightmon walked back down the road in which he came from, not trying to think about what plans his contact had in store. The figure waited until Knightmon completely disappeared from his sight before removing his helm, causing it to dissolve similarly to Terriermon, and revealing a blood red hood where its head should be.

"Hopefully they manage this without gaining attraction to our plans," Phantomon said to himself, "the last thing we need is more interference."


	2. Storm Over Tokyo

Shadowincarnants- Good evening Digimon fans, gold-shield moderators, forum come-and-goers, salesmen, Roma, anime fanatics, precious gem collectors, narcotic addicts, loyal Takumi fans such as myself, illegal immigrants, RIT and MIT sophomores, homosexuals, botanists, Gozer Worshippers, out-of-luck musicians, deadbeats, the living dead, talented authors, 80s' nostalgists, shipper bashers, critics of Savers, apocalipti, and people who are what I call a "combo platter", two or more of the previous items.

to someone off-stage Did I cover everything? I did? Good, good.

to readers Anyway, I am your host, Shadowincarnants. However that name doesn't flow within the narration of stories, so I'll be going by Krell. Don't ask why, I just feel that the name has some class to it. I was originally going to go by Trinity, but I felt that some sort of lawsuit would be involved. A while ago I had some ideas for a story for Digimon. Not just that, but an entire _generation_. I basically provided the time frame in the prologue, and the many characters of the story will be explained in the next few chapters. This is my first Digimon fanfic, and I'm hoping it goes well. I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

Chapter 1: Storm Over Tokyo

A male teenager with mousy-brown hair leaned back on the railing, looking down each side of the street as if expecting somebody to come down it. He was wearing a black blazer with a golden crest on the front and a pair of neat blue pants; the look of a school uniform, and not a very interesting on at that. Based on the fact that the blazer was opened and widely exposing the white tee-shirt underneath one could assume that the boy was just let out from school. He glanced at his watch a little impatiently before a voice called out his name.

"Hey! Tomoki!" the voice yelled.

Tomoki Himi looked up at the source of the noise, to see a girl around his age running down the street towards where he was standing. She was wearing an outfit very similar to Tomoki's, except for the fact that she had a skirt instead of pants.

"Oh, hey Nasumi," he replied, grinning at her arrival, "Glad to see you again."

"Same here," the girl named Nasumi replied, leaning against the nearby railing just like Tomoki, "the last two months have been torture; my teachers are just plain sadistic even though school has barely started..."

She continued to rant about the strictness of her professors and how her and her friends were barely getting through on their grades, but Tomoki didn't catch any of it. He was carefully examining every detail of Nasumi, since he hasn't seen her since the middle of last June. She had red-tinted brown hair that fell to her shoulders gracefully in a way that contrasted greatly with Tomoki's hair, which stuck up in all directions. Her light, heart shaped face seemed to have a sense of serenity to it, and her body, which would probably be the first thing that boys her age would look at, was very curvy and attractive, which was probably what Tomoki was thinking when Nasumi tried to get his attention.

"...and Kuri won't stop bitching about it...Tomoki, are you even listening to me?" she said, turning her head towards him for the first time since she started talking.

"Huh, what?" he asked, his mind snapping back into focus.

Nasumi gave him an inquisitive and slightly angry look. "What were you just thinking about?" she asked him.

"Um, I was just remembering the last time we saw each other," he lied.

"Oh...well that's sweet of you," she said, but still keeping a slightly disbelieving visage. "So, where's Akiru? I mean, he should've left from soccer practice at the same time as you, right?"

Tomoki's head jerked. "Eh, a bunch of girls that were watching our team ambushed him after the game," he answered, "He's probably soaking in all their praise. But now that you mention it, why didn't you sign up for soccer? Last I knew you couldn't wait to join this year ever since you saw me and Akiru play."

Nasumi sighed. "Believe me, I really wanted to," she said, "But my older brother got injured over the summer and now I have to do his job at my family's store. In fact, I'm only able to meet you now because it's my break. I hope Akiru gets here soon, though, when both of you are here it just makes my day better." No sooner than she finished her sentence a boy began to walk down the sidewalk they were standing on. He stood a little taller than Tomoki, was somewhat more well-built, and was carrying a slightly arrogant smirk on his face as he approached the other two.

"Nasumi," he began, "haven't seen you in a while. Seems you've already met up with Himi-boy," he added, grabbing Tomoki and putting him into a headlock. Nasumi began to laugh as he struggled to escape from Akiru's grip, finally managing to pull free and try to get his arm into a hammerlock. It only lasted a few seconds before Akiru pulled free himself and backed up a few steps. "Nice try buddy, but your not going to beat me," he told his best friend.

Nasumi finally stopped laughing at turned to the two boys. "Oh, I missed this. One minute together and you guys already cheered me up." She pulled out her cell phone to check the time. "So what do you guys want to...oh no...Tomoki, Akiru, we have to get together another time," she said, stowing away her phone. "I'm really sorry, but I have to get back to my family's shop. Bye!" And she turned from the two, running back down the way she came from. Tomoki and Akiru decided to head back themselves and set off in the opposite direction.

"So..." Akiru began to say to Tomoki as they turned around on a new block, "...Nasumi's still as hot as ever."

"Hm," Tomoki replied, a slightly dazed look on his face.

"Yeah, I can probably get her to go out with me this year," he said cockily, "it'd lose all those girls who keep dogging me in school and after games."

"Yeah, you'd _really_ hate that, wouldn't you?" Tomoki replied slyly. Akiru scoffed.

"Oh, you just wish you had the same thing happening to you," he commented back as they stopped in front of a Akiru's house. "Maybe one day man. 'Night."

"'Night," Tomoki said back, watching Akiru disappear behind his door. The teenager continued to walk down the streets and blocks, until he reached a medium-sized apartment building a few blocks from Akiru's place. A few moments later, he pulled out a key and started to unlock a door standing in front of him. As he walked into the apartment, a voice called out his name.

"Tomoki, is that you?" a female voice asked politely.

"Yes, mom," he replied, walking down the hallway to his room. Tomoki opened the door to his room, jumping onto his bed when it snapped shut behind him. Rolling over onto his back, he pulled out a cell phone from his pocket and quickly punched in a number.

"Hello?" answered a calm voice on the other end.

"Hey Kouichi," Tomoki said into the phone.

"Tomoki!" Kouichi exclaimed out of surprise, "Sorry I haven't been able to talk to you for so long, things have been busy around here."

Tomoki shrugged, although Kouichi couldn't see it. "I understand. You have a job, you have a girlfriend..."

"Not any more," Kouichi interrupted him, "I broke up with Midara a few weeks ago."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Tomoki replied sadly. "Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out tomorrow."

"Sounds great, I don't have anything important going on," Kouichi said, "We can catch up on the past two months."

"Cool. But if we end up buying anything to eat, do you mind..." Tomoki began, but Kouichi finished his sentence for him.

"Paying for it?" Kouichi said, "Well I really haven't ever minded before, and I've paid for, what, everything we ever did?"

"Uhh, yeah, I wish I could pay for some of that, but my family's a little stripped for money at the moment," he said grimly.

"It's funny, it was only a few years ago when your parents were trying to spoil every cent they had on you," Kouichi's voice commented, "Don't worry, I don't mind paying for anything. See you tomorrow then, Tomoki."

"See you then," Tomoki said back, clicking off his phone as Kouichi did his. He laid down the cell on the desk next to his bed, then began to stare at the ceiling for what would be next to an hour. No matter what he tried to think about, his mind always drifted back to the same subject...

* * *

"How I got stuck with _you_ as a partner, I'll never know."

A girl with short blond hair was walking down a paved path, closely followed by a auburn-haired boy of the same age, who was wearing a disgruntled expression. "Look kid," the girl began to say, "for this whole project just stay out of my way, and let me handle things. Got it?"

Jate Migasaki scoffed. "Yeah, I'll be doing that. Come on Kyonu, we got paired up for this thing, so shouldn't we _both_ work on this?" he questioned.

Kyonu Raika shot him a scornful look. "The only time I want to see you, Migasaki, is during Chemistry when I have no choice. Seeing you other than that would be a waste of precious time," she said to him. Kyonu flipped the sunglasses that were resting on her head over her eyes. "Now then, I need to get going, so remember what I said: don't get in my way." And with that, she walked up the small path leading up to the lines of houses that scattered the nearby hills. Jate shook his head and continued his walk down the pathway.

_Sociopathic bitch,_ he thought as the pathway opened to an empty street, _why would the teacher even pair her up with anyone?_ Jate could still remember the reaction he had when he found out he had to work with Kyonu. It was not what he wanted; although his level-headedness had to balance out his friends' more irrational behavior, they were at least decent people, but Kyonu simply ran in a bad crowd. Well...that's not very true. Kyonu ran with _no_ crowd. She put off an aura of anger that seemed to drive others away from her. Jate guessed that it was natural, since she had an odd fixation with conflict.

Jate remembered the first time he observed this quality; it was about three years ago, when a group of popular girls would usually make fun of Kyonu's position of being an outcast or something else. Then one time, the leader of the group "accidentally" let Kyonu hear her make fun of how she always wore those sunglasses on her head like that. A few hours later, after running towards a commotion he heard outside the school, Jate saw Kyonu walk away with her head held up high, and the girl who insulted her walked away with what looked like a broken nose, several bruises, and a black eye.

This probably wasn't the first time she beat up somebody, but it sure had more of an impact. Most of the girls in the school seemed to hate her, and although the guys liked how she handled things, she still treated everybody with a cold shoulder. And some people were just plain scared of her, avoiding her path so they wouldn't get on her bad side. _Pointless,_ Jate thought as he approached his street, _Kyonu __**only**__ has a bad side._ Jate sighed as he got closer to his house. _Oh well, I guess it's just a necessary evil,_ he told himself.

* * *

_Freeezin',__ rests his head on a pillow made of concrete, again..._

"Boy!" yelled a seemingly distant voice, "Open this door!"

_Oh, __feeelinnn' maybe he'll see a little better, set of days...ooh yeah..._

A loud knocking came along with the same voice as before. "Drasovick, open this door now!" A young man with silver hair laying on a small bed sighed then turned off the CD player he was listening to. Sighing, he walked over to the door at the end of the small room and unlocked it, then quickly jumped back on his bed.

"Come in," he said flatly. A short, middle-aged woman then entered through the door, carrying a slightly annoyed expression on her face.

"The meals will be passed out in five minutes," she told him, "and did you sweep up the hall like you were supposed to?"

"Yes, Mrs. Bennet," the boy replied in the same flat voice.

"Don't lie to me, the floor's filthy," she said strictly. "I want you to do it again after dinner, _and don't give me that look!_" she added, seeing the boy's face make a look of pained exasperation. And with that, Mrs. Bennet left his room, closing the door behind her.

"That old, angry hag," the silver-haired man muttered, pulling his headphones on his head so the band covered his eyes and starting back up "Even Flow". But it was only a few minutes before someone knocked on the door again. "Ugh," he groaned, turning off his CD for the second time this afternoon, "What now, I already said I would sweep again after dinner..."

The door opened once again, but it wasn't Mrs. Bennet who entered; instead, a young woman in her twenties with a kind face walking in, carrying what appeared to be a laundry basket. "Oh," the man said, looking at the new arrival, "hey Maria."

"Hello Gage," she said, "I'm here for any clothes you have." The boy pointed towards the large cabinet on the left side of the room.

"In the bottom-right section," he told her. As she began to pile clothes into the basket, she kept glancing up at the teenager, who continued to look sullen and bored. It was a few minutes before she spoke up.

"You still have a CD player?" she asked, having a jab at conversation. "I'd thought that you would've upgraded to an iPod by now."

The teenager shook his head, still not looking at Maria. "Most of my salary goes to paying for this thing," he said, raising a cell phone off a nearby desk.

"But still," she said, loading the last piece of clothing into the basket, "you'd have more money left over if you didn't pay for all these clothes."

The guy scoffed. "What and get stuck with the rags the other kids are forced to wear? No thanks. I'd like to retain my individualism. Oh, and that reminds me Maria," he added, as she began to reach for the doorknob, "I'd like it if you don't mix my clothes with the ones everyone other orphan wears, I'd paid good money for them."

Maria smiled. "Right, well make sure to come down soon." As she closed the door, Gage Drasovick took off his headphones and walked over to the window built into the left wall of the room. As he looked at the surrounding landscape, a bolt of lightning seemed to streak across the sky above southern Los Angeles. And though he was used to it happening over the past few days, the bolt still confused him; why would lightning streak horizontally in the sky, and when there are few clouds even out.

"Odd," Gage said, his voice showing interest for the first time today, "I wonder what has been causing that..." He then looked at a small clock set up on the desk next to his bed, and upon seeing the time, jumped back a few steps. "Oh God," he said, "if I don't get down there soon all the food will be gone...and Mrs. Bennet will go insane." Upon thinking this, Gage sprinted towards the door and fumbled with the knob for a few seconds before running out of the room.

* * *

"Hey, Tomoki, what's up?"

Kouichi and Tomoki were sitting at a table on the second floor of a two-story building. Kouichi was finished with his meal and began looking out the window; he didn't bother trying to start up a conversation with Tomoki, since he hasn't talked since they ordered. But after fifteen minutes of silence Kouichi decided that whatever was bugging Tomoki could no longer wait.

"What are you talking about, Kouichi?" Tomoki asked, trying not to give anything away in his expression.

"Well, I took a wild guess that something was bothering you, since you haven't talked since we got here," he answered. "So what's up then?"

"Nothing," Tomoki lied.

"Tomoki, I've known you for six years, don't try to pull that on me," Kouichi said, "Something's bothering you, and it isn't going to go away just by ignoring it. Believe me, I've tried that before. Talking about _does_ help, you know."

Tomoki took a huge sigh then finally looked up at Kouichi. "I don't know if you'd be able to relate," he said.

Kouichi laughed slightly. "Try me."

"Well," Tomoki began hesitantly, "Akiru and I met up with Nasumi for the first time since June, and..."

"Ah," Kouichi said, a look of understanding appearing on his face, "I should've guessed as much."

"What?!" Tomoki exclaimed, sweat starting to fall down his forehead, "No, no, no, it's nothing like that!"

"Yeah...whatever you say, Tomoki," Kouichi said, rolling his eyes, "Then what's the problem?"

"You know my friend, Akiru, right?" Tomoki asked his oldest friend. Kouichi nodded. "I know what he's like with girls: tosses them around, never really treats them with any sort of respect, just uses them until he gets what he wants. And...I think he might..."

"Do that with Nasumi?" Kouichi finished for him. Tomoki nodded. "I wouldn't worry about it much," Kouichi continued, "From what you've told me Nasumi's a smart girl, and knows what the hell she's doing. If Akiru's like that I don't think she'll fall for him."

"You don't know him much then," Tomoki said, shaking his head, "He can make a girl who nearly _hates_ him go out with him. I'm not surprised, after every soccer practice Akiru has a large group of fans just swarm up to him. Like he really gives a damn about any of them though, he just likes the attention and their bodies." Tomoki's brown hair jerked as he shook his head in disgust. "I-I'm sorry but it doesn't feel right talking about Akiru behind his back. I mean, he _is_ the best friend I have."

"_He's_ you're best friend?" Kouichi said, voice mocking as if he was hurt, "I guess I'm not giving enough..."

Tomoki finally laughed. "Kouichi, he's my best friend because he's around my age, and you're busy most of the time..."

"I kid, I kid," Kouichi said, putting his hands up to motion for Tomoki to stop, "But you shouldn't really feel bad about it, from what Kouji told me, you guys made fun of Takuya quite a bit behind his back. What was it, fifteen, twenty times?" This time both Tomoki and Kouichi laughed, but were cut off by a loud crackle from outside. Looking out the window, they saw a storm form over the main city. "Another one," Kouichi said, more to himself than Tomoki, "I wonder why there's been so many though..."

"Hey," Tomoki said, an idea suddenly popping into his head, "do you think they have anything to do with--" He dropped his voice to a whisper and leaned towards Kouichi, "--the Digital World?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if it was," Kouichi said in a low voice, without taking his eyes from the window, "It took only a few minutes here for what seemed like months there, and six years would be thousands upon thousands of years...maybe even millions...something big had to happen sometime..." Tomoki nodded his head in agreement.

"Yeah, a ton probably changed there," he noted, "I mean, it's only been six years here and a lot has changed..."

Kouichi didn't half to ask to know what he was talking about. Out of the six original Digidestined, the Chosen Children, only Kouichi and Tomoki still lived in Tokyo; Takuya, Izumi, Kouji, and Junpei were scattered across the island of Honshu. And to make matters worse, they haven't even able been to communicate with the others since they moved, excluding Kouji ("Thank God were twins, or something else would've cut off all connection from him as well" Kouichi once said). It was unexpected really, only a few days after they defeated Lucemon did Takuya learn that he had to move, and the other five have surprisingly forgot to exchange phone numbers. The day he moved Izumi and Junpei learned that they were leaving Tokyo as well, but not wanting to make the same mistake they gave their cells' numbers to each other the moment they learned.

But fate apparently had other plans. Izumi moved a week later, but in a few weeks she ended up having to get a new phone, but forgetting to call back the other four to inform them. She didn't realize this, however, until she deleted the information on her old phone, and sold it. Junpei's situation was far less complicated. A few days before his leaving, around the same time that Izumi was disconnected from them, he tripped on the pavement of the sidewalk, causing his phone to fly out of his hand and into the street...where a car ran it over instantly. He bought another, but only after he moved, and it was then he came to the realization, that like Izumi, he left all his friends' numbers on his old phone, and he could not remember a single one.

So in the matter of a month, half the group of Digidestined were severed from the others. Kouji didn't leave until about a year later, but he still retained Tomoki and Kouichi's numbers, so he could stay in communication with them. But nonetheless, they were still left stranded from most of their friends, just all alone in Tokyo.

"It'd be pretty cool though," Tomoki said after a few moments of silent reminiscing, "if something happened and we had to get together again." Kouichi chuckled a little.

"I have no doubt that we'll meet up with them again," he said, "although I have the feeling it won't be there." Tomoki sighed in disappointment. He knew "there" to mean "the Digital World".

"Ah well," Tomoki said, getting up from his seat, "I think we should be getting back home now, though." Kouichi pulled out his cell phone and checked the time.

"Yeah. You're right, Tomoki," he said. "Let's go." They soon were walking through the entrance to the subway, which Tomoki had to take to get back home.

"It was fun, Tomoki," Kouichi said as the fourteen year-old walked up to the steps to the train, "I'd think it'd be best if we didn't wait two months just to get together again."

Tomoki laughed at this. "Me too," he said, getting on the train, "Thanks for your help, Kouichi."

"Help?" Kouichi asked. The first part of the two friends' conversation popped back into his mind. "Ah yes, that help. Well I'm happy to give it. Good-bye, Tomoki."

"Bye," the younger of the two replied as the door closed in front of him. And with that, the train began to speed up, leaving Kouichi waving at him from the platform. When he was out of sight, Tomoki walked towards the door at the end of the hall, their discussion still buzzing in his head. It'd be pretty cool if we had to go back to the Digital World though, he thought, but I'm probably not going to be sent there again.

How wrong you are, Tomoki, oh how wrong you are.

* * *

Jate looked out at the mountainous landscape that was passing him by. Right now he was on the train to Hakodate, where his father was currently living. This was basically the agreement between his parents: his mother in Sapporo would have him on weekdays, and Jate would travel to his father's for the weekend. He should've been on this train yesterday afternoon, but some complications with the tickets occurred, and well...here he is now. Jate looked around at the rest of the compartment. The only other people in the room was a small boy, and a girl a few years older than him who looked like she could be his sister. They've been the only ones in this compartment the entire ride, so it came at a surprise when the door at the right-hand exit opened, allowing another person to enter the hall.

"You?" Jate said to the new arrival, a severely surprised look on his face, "You're here?"

Kyonu looked absolutely disgusted at who was sitting in the compartment. "Your here too?" she asked. "This figures, the part of the train closest to the lunch compartment, and you had to be sitting in it Migasaki." She sat down at the opposite end of the benches, her eyes closed and facing the ceiling.

"Well, the other areas were full, so..." he began, but Kyonu interrupted him.

"I never said I wanted to hear why you're here, Migasaki," she scoffed, "I don't really give a damn on the workings of your life." Jate opened his mouth to counter but the girl on the other side of the hall talked to Kyonu first.

"Excuse me, did you say that the lunch train is through the left door?" she asked. Kyonu nodded, though not taking her "eyes" off the ceiling. "Okay then. Ryu," she said, turning to the boy beside her, "I really don't want any trouble from you when I'm supposed to be watching you, so behave yourself while I get some food for us, got it?" The boy called Ryo nodded his head in understanding.

"Got it, sis," he said. Once she left the compartment, the room fell silent. Neither Jate or Kyonu wanted to speak to each other, and Ryo seemed to nervous of the two to even move. It remained like this, until...

CRAASSSHHHH

The train came to a screeching halt, causing the three of them to fall to the floor.

"What the..." Jate muttered as he attempted to pull himself off the ground. When he finally did, the source of the sudden stop was explained...somewhat. Outside storms seemed to be pulsing across the sky, and Jate could even feel electricity coursing throughout the compartment itself.

"What's going on?" Kyonu asked furiously, picking up her sunglasses from the floor. Jate didn't answer, although Ryo shook his head widely. He then decided to tell her about the lightning coursing outside, but was interrupted when his cell phone unexpectedly rang...along with both Kyonu's and Ryo's as well. All three slowly took out their phones and rose them to their ears, but it was only Kyonu who said, "H-hello?"

"Jate Migasaki...your help is needed here...so if you wish to come to our aid, or to improve your life, then will you come..."

Jate was completely speechless at this message, not just because this person who contacted him knew his name, but because the other two received the exact same message, but "Jate Migasaki" was replaced with "Kyonu Raika" and "Ryo Kusune". Ryo looked terrified at how some stranger had gotten his name, and Kyonu was breathing very deeply, something he'd thought he'd never see from her. Though the message seemed to have asked for a response, the three didn't have anytime to answer, as the train shook violently once again, and the lights began to flicker on and off as static began to pour in from around them. Then not even a second after the shaking subsided, the electricity in the air seemed to gather in the middle of the compartment, forming a large silvery-blue portal.

Jate, Kyonu, and Ryo gazed in awe at the portal, all of them speechless, which was very surprising for Kyonu. A knocking suddenly came from the left side of the room, causing all three of them to jump.

"RYO! RYO! ARE YOU OKAY!" roared the voice of Ryo's sister from behind the door to the lunch compartment.

"S-s-sis!" Ryo stuttered, obviously still stunned by the appearance of the portal. He ran toward the source of the noise to aid her sister open the door, which apparently was jammed shut. At the same time, Jate and Kyonu walked towards the portal, still gazing at the flowing energy it contained. But the moment Jate reached out to touch the energy within, and Ryo shot his hand towards the handle of the door, the ground once again shuddered and the lights turned off. The portal began to swirl viciously, causing tiles to break off the floor and fly within. The three humans had even less of a chance; the moment the energy of the room started to surge, Jate was pulled into the wormhole, Kyonu and Ryo flying at his side.

* * *

Krell- Well, that was the first chapter. I was originally going to have it be longer, but I felt that it was long enough. Now though I'd like to apologize for a few things. First of all, I'd like to say that I don't know the workings of orphanages, so Gage's part of the story might have a few problems with it. Secondly, I will say this now: I am not good at making Japanese names. So some of the names might be culturally incorrect (ie. isn't a real name, should be name for the opposite gender, etc).

Any reviews are appreciated, and I hope you keep reading. Well, if you liked it, that is...


	3. It Begins Again

Krell- I'm back, and with the next part of this digital tale. I just hope it can live up to the situation the first chapter set it up for...well, here it goes. Enjoy, mes copains.

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon, or any other source I may parody in my story. I forgot to put this in the first chapter, and probably the prologue as well, so...this one counts for all three.

* * *

Chapter 2: It Begins Again

The dull room remained silent, except for the snores coming from a small bed at its right-hand side. Though the room should've been bathed in sunlight, the curtains were drawn so no light could penetrate the room's layer of darkness. Nothing changed from this dark and frozen scene, until the large hand on the small clock lying on the desk pointed to six, and the figure in the bed suddenly stirred.

"Uhh...what time is it..." he muttered, glancing at the clock. "Oh...I should be going now then," he said, untangling himself from his sheets. Gage walked over to his large wardrobe, opened it, and then began to pull on a blue tee-shirt and a pair of black jeans. He was about to close the doors, but paused, then reached inside his shirt and pulled out a silver key attached to a chain hanging around his neck. With it, he reached up toward a closed cupboard and unlocked it. It was an unexpected assortment of items: something that looked like a set of spangled black robes displayed in the back, a thin rapier whose hilt was hanging on two hooks, and on the bottom, a set of hardcover books, and a small, engraved, metal box.

Gage lightly took the sword from its hooks and carefully held it in his right hand. A few seconds later, he was swinging the rapier around, leaving two shallow scratches in the side of his wardrobe. This continued for a few moments, until Gage tripped over his own feet, and slamming the center of the sword against the corner of the wood, causing it to snap in half. He got back up to his feet, gaping at the broken metal.

"That son of a bitch shafted me!" he growled, still staring at the sword. He crouched down to pick up the other half of the rapier then walked to the other side of the room. "No holster, breaks apart just by coming in contact with wood," he muttered angrily as he tossed the metal into a small wastebasket, _"'This is a great bargain Gage, price has been slashed repeatedly!_', yeah right. It's not a good sale, just a piece of cheap crap." Taking his eyes away from the sword in the trash, he looked at the calendar hanging above his bed.

"Saturday November 22..." he said in a low voice, "his place should be open today." He walked back over to the open cupboard on took out the piece of clothing hanging in the back. After pulling it out, he locked up the cupboard, then dropped his key on the wardrobe floor. He pulled on the black jacket, which ended up covering most of his shirt, and reaching up to his hands.

"Well, at least I know that this wasn't a waste of money," he said, feeling the material on his arm, "I'm pretty snazzy in this." And with that, he walked out through the doorway, leaving the room motionless once more.

"Okay, okay, I'll admit it, the thing I sold you was worthless, but you just seemed so easy to pawn it off on!"

Gage was in a shop called "Winshol's Antiquities", a place known for selling rare or foreign weapons and valuables. He was inside with both his hands gripping the counter in anger, having just shouted down the owner and salesman, Ben Winshol, for the past minute about the poor quality of the rapier.

"Pawn_ off on?_" Gage yelled, "I want another sword, Ben, and it has to be able to cut something that isn't just paper-thin!"

"Fine, fine," Winshol said, reaching underneath the glass counter, "I have something that'd be perfect for what you want." He put a silver-patterned holster on the glass, in which he unsheathed a shining, straight steel sword. "Made of dense steel," the salesman began to explain as Gage looked at the weapon with an interested expression, "it's basically a cross-design between the swords of European knights and Japanese katana, so it would have a very sturdy yet powerful build. Watch..."

He then walked over to a tall wooden post covered in marks and cuts, and swung the blade full-force into its side, leaving a deep gash in the wood. Seeing how Gage's expression quickly shot from curious to awed, Winshol pulled the sword out of the post, smiling.

"I'd thought you'd like it," he said, putting the sword back into its hilt and laying it on the glass counter. "Now here's the price...and I'll tell you, this _is_ a great cut, so don't be coming in here shouting at me because it's the wrong color, or something like that." He handed a small piece of paper that was attached to the hilt to Gage, whose eyes widened upon reading it."

"This is a good price..." he said, fumbling around in his pockets for his wallet, "Thank God I have enough." As the owner inserted the many bills given to him into the cash register, Gage pulled out and carefully scrutinized the sword. "It seems perfect for me," he said, inserting the sword back into its holder, "it's been good doing _decent_ business with you, Ben."

Winshol chuckled as Gage exited the store. "You too, kid, you too," he said. As Gage walked into the crowded street, another streak of lightning flashed across the sky. _What's up with this weather,_ Gage thought as he joined the thinning throng, _and not just the lightning either, the entire atmosphere just has this weird, thick vibe to it..._

He stopped at an intersection a few minutes later, and used the time to think over what could be causing this freak conditions. It barely took one step on the road's pavement before his train of thought was cut short. In one extremely quick movement, the air seemed to pulse, and lightning struck hard at the opposite end of the intersection, sending many people flying through the air and causing cars to curve into buildings. By the time Gage lifted up his head, people were screaming in fear, parents were clinging to their children, and police were attempting to contact the any other member of the L.A.P.D.

"What the hell just happened?" Gage asked nobody in particular as he pulled himself off the ground. Looking at the spot where the bolt made contact, he saw the pavement charred and shattered, and the remains of a car left pulsing with static. Having no idea what to do, he ran down the street to his left, closer to the bigger sections of the city in hopes of finding out what could've caused this. _That was no normal lightning,_ he said to himself as he sprinted down the sidewalk, _something big is going on right now... _

"...We have been reported that this storm damaged many building all across the Los Angeles area, and there have been calls of twelve dead persons due to these incidents."

Gage stopped in his tracks upon hearing the voice of this announcer's statement. He joined the few people grouped around a nearby glass wall of an electronics store, which behind lay sixteen televisions, all showing the same news broadcast.

"Scientists are befuddled by the origin of these storms," the news reporter continued, "Even the use of Doppler radar is impossible, as it seems mass amounts of data have been unknowingly inputted into the machines..." The crowd did not get to hear the rest, as each TV suddenly cut off from the channel's signal. At the same time, although he could've been imagining it, Gage felt a rush of energy surge through the air, and he could not help but be reminded of the lightning that struck only a few moments ago. He turned to continue his run to the main section of the city when his cell phone suddenly rang. Gage looked shocked at this. Though he kept paying for the bill, it was just an action to give him false hope; he had no friends or family who would call him. Taking a few steps away from the crowd, Gage put the hone to his right ear and said, "Yes?"

"Gage Drasovick...your help is needed here...so if you wish to come to our aid, or to improve your life, then will you come..."

He didn't know how to respond to this. But feeling as if he had to answer, he slowly said into the phone: "Y-yes..." But the voice didn't say anything else. Having no idea what to do, Gage put his phone back into his pocket and started to run once again. _Who...who was that?!_ he asked himself. He had no idea what was going on...static in the air, lightning ripping up streets, and that voice...you could imagine that it confused him even more when he walked by an alleyway to find a silvery-blue portal halfway through it.

"What the..." was all Gage could muster as he stared at the wormhole. He could not help but remember what the message said to him: "_to improve your life..._". He began to walk towards the portal his hand reached out to touch it, but Gage was a few feet from the opening when it happened. The wormhole suddenly surged, just as the air has many times before today, and Gage felt his body get thrown into the opening.

* * *

"Nasumi? Akiru?"

Tomoki was in a compartment of a bullet train heading towards the west side of the city after his meeting with Kouichi. When he opened the handle to the emptiest room he could find, he was shocked to find those two, sitting on the right bench.

"Tomoki?" Akiru said, looking at his friend in an equal amount of surprise, "You're on this train too?"

"Yeah, I was meeting up with Kouichi," he replied, his eyes darting back and forth from Akiru to Nasumi. Akiru nodded his head in understanding, but Nasumi looked confused.

"Who's Kouichi?" she asked Tomoki.

"He's an old friend of mine," Tomoki told her, as he sat down on the bench opposite of Nasumi. "What are you doing here, though, Nasumi?" he asked, "if you're covering all of your brother's old jobs, shouldn't you be at the store now?"

Nasumi grimaced then lowered her head so Tomoki could see a large backpack that she was carrying. "I had to pick up supplies," she informed him, "my parents are busy with customers so..." She shrugged as if to say "and that's why".

Tomoki looked at Akiru for his explanation, who said, "Had to get a new phone, man. There's really only one place in the city that had what I was looking for." He then pulled out a sleek, red cell phone that looked like it cost more than any phone Tomoki would ever have; it was definitely something that Akiru would want to buy. He looked from Tomoki to Nasumi, as if expecting them to be awed at this purchase, but seeing their nonplused expressions, stowed the phone away.

Things were silent for a few minutes, so Tomoki took the time to observe the other passengers in the compartment. There were about ten other people with them...but none were of any real interest. Tomoki took to staring at the laptop the man beside him was typing on, before the train suddenly slowed down. Most of the passengers began to pick up their bags and briefcases, but Nasumi carried a slightly worried expression on her face. He knew why; the train was still surrounded by the dirt under the city. Though all the passengers soon began to worry after what happened next.

Instead of stopping after the train began to slow, it unexpectedly shuddered, then lunged across the rail at normal speed. During this odd moment the lights flickered on and off, and the laptop of the man sitting next to Tomoki suddenly shut down. Tomoki could've sworn that he felt a feeling of static course through the air as well...

Akiru was staring back and forth at the other two, mouthing the words _What the hell was that?_ Both Nasumi and Tomoki shrugged, although Tomoki had an odd feeling that he knew what it could be. It was only when they began to reach the station when the final "sign" began to happen, something that caused Tomoki to be stricken with excitement and worry. As the passengers began to file out of the train into Shibuya station, eager to report what just occurred, Nasumi's cell phone rang.

She slowly reached into her bag, pulled it to her ear, and said in a clear voice, "Hello?"

"Nasumi Takete...your help is needed here...so if you wish to come to our aid, or to improve your life, then will you come..."

Nasumi's visage turned to shock after hearing this message. Though the call came out of Nasumi's cell, both Tomoki and Akiru heard it as if they received the message themselves. The latter simply looked confused, and turned to Tomoki as if he could somehow explain it, but Tomoki was speechless.

_That...that__ call,_ his mind stuttered, _it's just like the one Ophanimon sent six years ago, it even sounds like her voice! But something doesn't feel right about it this time...when she contacted us during our adventure, Ophanimon always gave off a feeling of trust and hope...but this one..._

Tomoki was brought back to Earth by Nasumi's voice. "Who is this? Hello?" she kept asking the phone, although it remained silent. Tomoki looked around to see if anyone else heard the voice; though nobody seemed to notice the call from _her_ phone, two other people were staring at theirs, just like Nasumi was. One, a boy with dark brown hair around their age had his eyes darting between the ends of the phone as if trying to read it, and the other was looking at his phone with the same confused expression as Akiru while he walked up the stairs.

Nasumi finally gave up trying to get the voice to respond, and instead turned to her two companions. "Who-who do you think that was?" she asked them.

Akiru shrugged. "Why do you think I would know?" he asked her back.

"I-I was just thinking that..."

"Guys," Tomoki interrupted, an unidentifiable expression on his face, "I think we should leave, _now_." Neither Akiru nor Nasumi argued with this. The three of them began to run towards the stairs, only pausing to allow a man coming out of a nearby elevator to pass them by. When they suddenly halted, Tomoki's phone flew out of his pocket and slid towards the elevator's opening. He ran over to pick it up, but as he reached down for it, the ground shook once again. Though Tomoki retained his posture, a person who tried to sprint by the three lost his balance, falling into Tomoki and sending them into the open shaft.

As Tomoki stood back up, he saw Nasumi attempt to run towards the elevator door, but they closed before she could reach them. Tomoki looked at the person who got him into this situation, and was surprised to see the same dark-haired boy he saw earlier. Both of them managed to get back on their feet, but nearly fell back to the ground, as the lift shuddered and shot downward at an amazing speed.

"Wh-what's going on?" the boy asked nervously. Tomoki didn't answer, but had a terrible feeling that he knew where they were going. A few seconds later, when the elevator passed by all floors built into the station, the floor began to glow a bluish-white light. The two teenagers shut their eyes to shield against this light, which kept growing until it consumed the entire shaft.

* * *

A bird's call rang through the vast, dark forest. In a light-scattered clearing, two boys lay unconscious. The scene remained like this, not a single sign of sentient life, until one of the two teenagers began to stir.

"Uhhhh..." he muttered, slowly pushing himself off the ground. "That was a lot worse than the last time..."

Tomoki kneeled on the forest's ground, expecting to see the familiar sight of Trailmon waiting for passengers to board. But instead, he pulled a confused look as he saw the many trees stretching out beyond his vision.

"Wh-wh-wha..." he stuttered, "We can't have...we're here already?" Tomoki didn't understand; last time humans arrived at the Digital World, they had to ride Trailmon just to cross whatever barriers separated the two planets. But the fact that they were thrown so randomly into the planet worried Tomoki. _Why did this happen,_ he thought, his mind racing, _I would've thought that after Lucemon was defeated, Ophanimon, Seraphimon, and Cherubimon would be able to handle whatever came across...or at least give us a warning. I don't care what that thing sounded like on Nasumi's phone, it was __**not**__ Ophanimon._

His concerns heightened even more when he heard voices heading in their direction. Tomoki looked over at the boy who sent him here in the first place, who was still knocked out.

"Hey, kid," he whispered, trying to shake his companion awake, "Come on, wake up!"

"Get a move on!" said a cool, feminine voice from the shadows of the trees, "They could get here at any minute!"

A second voice replied, but in a much shaper and worn out tone. "Why would they come _here_ of all places?" it asked, "It's in the middle of a forest!"

"This forest surrounds the shrine, and I swear that I saw a light..."

"What do you know, you're a floating icicle!" the second voice interrupted loudly. Tomoki leaped to his feet, as if expecting a fight (though he had very little he could do against a Digimon, at the moment), right when two Digimon rushed out of the dark curtain of trees. The first was something Tomoki has never seen before in his life. It looked as if it was a snow-colored pointed bulb with large blue eyes plastered near its top end. But what made it seem so foreign from the Digimon he was normally used to were the three small crystals symmetrically hovering below it, as if they were holding the rest of the Digimon a foot above the ground. The second, however, Tomoki recognized immediately.

"Candlemon?" Tomoki said, lowering his readied fists. The Digimon in question had its "hands" on the ground, whose owner was panting heavily.

"Do...I...know...you?" Candlemon asked between breaths, staring at Tomoki.

"Yeah! Well, not personally, probably, but me and my friends visited your village once!" he exclaimed.

"I've...never...met a human...before..." the Candlemon gasped, before collapsing on the ground. "I'm going...to kill...you for...this, Diamon."

"This isn't the time Candlemon!" the Digimon called Diamon scolded in its cool voice, "Now listen, human..."

"My name's Tomoki," the teenager interrupted, slightly insulted at being called "human".

"Right, right, Tomo..." Diamon began, but suddenly paused. "Did you just say 'Tomoki'?" It asked. Candlemon suddenly raised his head, no longer panting.

"Uhhh, yes, why?" Tomoki responded, slightly put off by this sudden interest in him. Diamon continued to stare at him for a few moments, but shook its head before speaking again.

"Anyway, Tomoki," it continued, "You need to wake up the other human. We need to get you two out of here, and fast."

"Why?" he asked, but Diamon just shook its head.

"We don't have the time to explain," it said, "We just need to wake him up!"

"I don't think I can," Tomoki replied, pushing the other boy with his foot, "I'm pretty sure that he's knocked out."

A grunt came from behind them. "Let me handle it," Candlemon spoke from behind them, finally recovered from his constant panting. He walked over to the sprawled teenager's side and pushed his hands against the ground to lift his base into the air. And with slight ease, as if he did this every day, Candlemon brought his base down like a pendulum and swung it into the young man's left arm. After this "wake-up call", the brown-haired kid finally began to stir.

"Ohhh...my head," the boy muttered as he lifted himself off the ground, "What was the deal with that elevator..." At that moment he noticed Tomoki observing him, a frown on his face. "Hey, aren't you the guy that I ran..." he began to ask, but suddenly stopped, an ashamed look appearing on his face.

"Into and knocked headfirst into the elevator shaft?" Tomoki finished for him, looking slightly annoyed, "Yeah, I am. The name's Tomoki."

"Uh, Zazuki," the scrawny teenager replied, rising to his feet and examining the forest surrounding, "I think I'm hallucinating, Tomoki...weren't we just in..." he suddenly was cut off as he saw Diamon. Zazuki stared mindlessly at the Digimon.

"Why are you staring?" Candlemon asked him, causing Zazuki to shift his focus to his questioner. The boy turned to Tomoki, a pained look on his face.

"Did that candle just talk?" he asked quietly. Candlemon did not seem to appreciate this comment.

"Well I don't see the spirits exactly patting themselves on the back for your ability of speech, asshole," he said angrily.

"Hey, I can talk because the human brain is designed so," Zazuki replied waspishly, "a candle doesn't even have a..."

"If you two will shut up for a moment," Diamon said in a ferocious whisper, "I'd like to remind you that we should be getting the hell out of here!"

Zazuki shook his head and began to pace around. "Forget hallucinating, I must be _dreaming_," he said, massaging his scalp with his hands. Tomoki gave him one last look of disdain before turning back to Diamon.

"You're still not telling us why would should be leaving," Tomoki once again asked, "Are we in danger, or something? Is someone after..." But his words were cut off as Diamon pulled both him and Zazuki down by their collars. Tomoki lifted his head up to see Candlemon ducking a foot away, though had an air of wanting to protect the other three. Wanting to find the reason for this sudden reaction, Tomoki looked behind him, to see many small knifes implanted in the trees surrounding them. At the other side of this small clearing stood a short, masked creature whose eyes darted from Candlemon to Diamon then to the two humans lying in the dirt.

"Well well," the mysterious Digimon said, his hand grasping the branch he was standing on, "an enemy rebel, a Rakaih nut, and..." the newcomer grinned widely, "...two humans! My my, this is a wonderful bounty! My employer will surely..."

"Rakaih nut?" Candlemon yelled, cutting off their attacker from his monologue, "And what exactly is that supposed to mean?!" The masked Digimon laughed softly.

"I think you know well what it means, Candlemon," he said, "But my master seems to be of one himself, so I shouldn't really talk. I'll just kill you instead, as are my orders."

Candlemon made the smallest of movements towards the group behind him, and whispered to them just one word: "Run". Diamon looked at him incredulously before shooting back, "Don't tell me you're expecting to take him on by _yourself_?"

Candlemon nodded slightly. "The mask, the weapons, the constant reference to an 'employer'...this is apparently Ninjamon," he explained, "If just the two of us try to take him on, then we'll be killed. Even more important, he'll get his hands on these humans here, and by the way he describes his current master, that would be extraordinarily bad. Just take these two and find something that could help us, while I deal with knifey here." Diamon stared at him for a minute, then nodded. The frozen Digimon pulled Zazuki and Tomoki once again by their shirts, his time into the woods behind them. Candlemon flipped backwards on the branch behind them to mirror his opponent, who simply laughed at this action.

"You're expecting to take _me_ on?" he asked between breaths, "Foolish rookie, all you're going to achieve is your data being scattered by my blade!"

"Well let's find out, shall we?" Candlemon replied, the flame at the end of his wick growing immensely. Ninjamon didn't hesitate with his attack.

"Ninja Knife Throwing!" he yelled, three giant shuriken leaving his hands and flying at Candlemon. Despite his stubby appearance, the rookie managed to launch himself high into the air, right above the center of the now-abandoned clearing. And with the flame above him at the largest it's ever been, he cried out: "Flame Bomber!" sending three large fireballs towards each shuriken. At contact, the weapons burst, causing smoke to obscure all sight within the battlefield. Not wanting his opponent to gain the upper-hand, Ninjamon quickly unsheathed his sword and shot into the cloud of dust, only to stop midair and slash at another fireball sent his way.

"Is that the best you've got?" Ninjamon yelled, only to hear Candlemon yell in response: "Brass Pendulum". And even harder than with Zazuki, Candlemon brought his based spinning down towards Ninjamon, hitting him squarely in the head. Apparently he wasn't expecting this; the force of Candlemon's attack sent him soaring towards the tree he first appeared on. He pulled his blade against the force of the wind, hoping as if already planning to return that blow to his enemy.

_If he thinks that's going to do anything, then he is sorely...GAH!_ Ninjamon's train of thought suddenly ended when his body slamming into the same tree he leaped from. His eyes widened with shock, small droplets of spittle flying from his open mouth, as he tumbled through the air, landing on the hard ground beneath him. Candlemon landed in the clearing as well, panting even harder than he was when he arrived.

_I should leave before he wakes up,_ he thought, stumbling towards the direction in which Diamon and the two boys fled. _A minor concussion like that isn't going to last long for someone as strong as him._

Tomoki, Diamon, and Zazuki were running between the trees, not looking back at the area where they left Candlemon. "Who pant was pant that?" Zazuki asked for what seemed like the hundredth time.

"It's not important _who_ he is," Diamon scolded, "all that's important is that we get you out of here before Ninjamon gets _you_."

"Listen Zazuki," Tomoki piped up, noticing that his companion wasn't going to stop his flow of questions, "I...have this feeling that I've seen something like this before. And by the looks of that guy who was following us, we should probably do whatever Diamon tells us." This didn't convince Zazuki at all. In fact, he stopped in his tracks completely.

"Wait, how can we be so sure to trust that floating snowball at all?" he asked. Diamon stopped too, just for the sole purpose of glaring viciously at Zazuki.

"Don't trust...floating..." it stuttered incomprehensibly, "I'm just trying to keep you from being captured!"

"Seriously Zazuki, by the looks of it, we have to choose whether to go with Diamon here or that masked freak," Tomoki told him. Zazuki looked as if he still wanted to argue about it, but his face suddenly lit up, as if he found the answer to any question he had to ask.

"Wait a minute, I still have my cell phone with me!" he said, his hands groping inside his pockets. Tomoki stared at him.

"YOU THINK YOU'LL BE ABLE TO REACH ANYONE FROM HERE?!" he yelled.

"Well it's more reasonable than following a piece of talking ice around!" he called back.

"I can hear, you know!" Diamon added, angered by these constant referrals. Zazuki ignored these two.

"Ah, here it is," he said, pulling out the device in question, "Now I wonder how many…" Zazuki suddenly trailed off, now staring at the cell phone he had in his palm.

Or should I say, he was staring at what _was_ his cell phone.

Instead, he was holding a machine not like any from Earth. It was as if white, metallic plastic was molded into a thick, curved, blade-edged triangle. In the middle of the device was what seemed to be a miniature television screen, surrounded by a yellow rectangle, which together jutted out through one side of the machine, deforming its shape. A thick strap was attached to the end of this obstruction, completing the device's odd appearance. Though Zazuki and Diamon were speechless at the sight of this, Tomoki managed to mutter:

"D-Tector?" This caused the other two to turn their sights onto him.

"What did you say, Tomoki?" Diamon asked quietly, without taking its eyes off the object in Zazuki's hand.

"Nothing, nothing," he waved off quickly, rummaging in his bag for his own cell phone. As expected, his phone transformed just as Zazuki's had, though his was green where his companion's was yellow. _Huh….it looks a little like my D-Tector,_ he told himself, _but it's obviously not the same thing._

"What the hell is this thing?" Zazuki snapped, halting the flow of old memories that entered Tomoki's mind. Apparently it also had the same effect on Diamon, who shook its head.

"We don't have time to just stand around and stare at some device, we need to get going!" the Digimon scolded.

"Why do we need to rush?" Zazuki asked, pulling a more relaxed expression, "It's not like anything bad is going to happ…"

_**BOOM!!**_

A loud explosion rang through the trees, causing Tomoki to fumble, Diamon to stare in the direction that they came from, and Zazuki to shake violently and nearly drop the device. "Yeah…" Tomoki began after he regained his balance, "I think we should do whatever Diamon says now, Zazuki." For once, the latter nodded in agreement. The three then continued their sprint through the woods, not stopping until they reached another clearing...where they crashed into around four other figures running about as fast as they were.

"Ouch…"

"Who the…"

"SON OF A BITCH!"

The mess of runners turned to look at the source of the largest yell, a sturdy teenager around Tomoki's age with jet-black hair. Tomoki's eyes widened in surprise. He then turned his head left to take a look at the boy's companion, and his mouth dropped with as much shock as with his eyes.

"Nasumi? Akiru?" Tomoki felt himself say once again. And just as on the train, the two he addressed looked up and stared at him.

"_Tomoki_?" the former breathed, getting up from her feet. Nasumi ran to the boy and began to stutter wildly. "You're here…this is so unexpected….how….you fell through the elevator…"

"Woah, woah, Nasumi," Tomoki interrupted, "I….I can't understand a single thing you're saying."

"I think she's trying to say," Akiru explained, getting up from the ground, "is how did you end up here, Himi-boy?" He glanced at Zazuki. "Who are you?" he asked. Zazuki stood up to face Akiru, but he barely reached his shoulders.

"Zazuki Kenta," he replied, slightly intimidated by how much smaller he was than the other three, "And I don't like the attitude you're giving me!" Tomoki wanted to speak up, as Akiru looked as if Zazuki's words were reason for a fight, but he didn't need to.

"Stratamon!" Diamon cried, hovering over to Nasumi's group. This caused Tomoki to look at his friends' companions, both of whom resembled walking spheres. One seemed to be covered in dark green scales, and had a small tail protruding out its backside. The other, who Diamon was currently hovering to, simply looked like a moving ball of light red armor.

"Diamon, I'm glad to have run into you," the Digimon called Stratamon said. "But I thought the elders had you traveling with Candlemon?" Diamon nodded….or at least what Tomoki _thought_ was nodding, it was a little hard to tell.

"We're just temporarily separated right now," it said, "but he knows that the important thing is to get the humans to safety." Diamon glanced at Akiru and Nasumi. "I see you've found some as well," it told Stratamon. Diamon then noticed the other Digimon in the vicinity. "Where did you find this one?" it asked.

"Who's DemiRepomon?" Stratamon replied flatly, "I found him in the forest a few minutes before these humans arrived. He seemed eager to help with my cause."

Tomoki shot a look at the Digimon in question. _Eager?_ he told himself, _That Digimon looks like it doesn't even want to be here._ This seemed pretty true. DemiRepomon didn't look like he had any emotion at all for this situation, except for what resembled a slight shudder of nervousness.

"Though the motives are noble, Stratamon, we don't have the time to pick up every Digimon we meet, it just slows down our mission! You _do_ know what'll happen if the humans are caught, don't you?" Diamon asked.

"The elders made it perfectly clear that any being who wishes to join our cause should be given a chance. I take every order given as serious as the next," he replied in a sturdy voice. Diamon shook its head.

"Look, never mind that," it said quickly, "I've already came into contact with one of the enemies after us, and we have no time to spare." Realizing the seriousness Diamon was implying, Startamon nodded (at least Tomoki assumed it was what it did), and then turned to Akiru and Nasumi.

"Humans," it began to say, "I need you to keep up the speed you were at before now. Even a single falter can lead to our destruction." Akiru and Nasumi didn't know how to respond to this order.

The latter leaned her head over towards Tomoki and asked, "Why do they keep referring to us as 'humans'? We told them our names." Tomoki shrugged.

"I don't know, but it's starting to make me feel pretty damn insignificant," he whispered back. Nasumi made a gesture as if she was going to reply, but she was cut short when Diamon suddenly shouted at them.

"Are you two listening?" it asked, "I said to head across the clearing!" Tomoki and Nasumi realized that apparently the rest of the group has started their run towards the woods on the other side. Not wanting to get left behind, they followed the hovering Diamon through the empty plain. When the three finally caught up with the rest of the group, an ominous breeze blew through Tomoki's hair. Though it could've been his imagination, he sworn the wind just said to him: "He's coming". Tomoki didn't need to wonder who it was talking about.

* * *

"Being knocked unconscious by that little bastard…it's too shameful to even think about."

Ninjamon was pushing himself up from the ground, while rubbing the spot where Candlemon attacked him. "Ugh," he groaned, "I was too cocky. Thinking that I could take them head-on…." The Digimon stumbled over to a few feet to his right and picked his sword off the ground.

"Right," he told himself confidently, as he sheathed his weapon back in its holster, "I'll just have to take each of these Digimon down the way I would against a worthy opponent: swiftly and silently."

* * *

Normally, this desolate valley is….well….desolate. But it wasn't the same case today, as a young man covered in black was proving at the moment.

"Hello?" Gage yelled, looking around as he walked down the deserted path for any signs of life, "Is anybody there?" He turned on the spot as if expecting somebody to pop out from behind one of the few trees that littered the sides of the road. "ANYONE?" he called again, to no response. Gage studied the surrounding area as he continued his pace.

"Good God, this place is barren," he thought out loud. "Where am I, the Sierra Nevada?" It was a few minutes before Gage noticed a rustling from a nearby tree. He scratched his head out of confusion. _W-why would anything even be in that tree?_ he thought, _there's barely any leaves on it._ His head turned from the tree to the cliff to his left, and then the short black figures on the horizon. _A better question would be why any living creature would even __**consider**__ being here,_ he asked himself, _It looks like even touching the ground will kill you. And the sun just seems to stay in the same spot all day, so it feels like…_

His rant was cut off when he noticed that the amount of sun hitting him was growing smaller…and smaller…and smaller…until he decided to look up. Once he saw the cause of this newfound shade, Gage only had a slight moment to dive on the ground and avoid the katana that was brought down on him. Lying on his back and breathing heavily, he looked up to see the same sword pointed straight at his nose, and its owner standing dominantly in front of him.

* * *

-reads the chapter-

Krell- Ugh, that chapter was no good at all. I didn't get to mention Jate's group, I had to push the original title back again….on the other hand, writing Candlemon's lines were just fun. Well, no writer's happy with every piece of their creation, I guess. Once again, here's Krell saying I hope you enjoyed this thread…and please, be honest with your reviews. Thank y'all.


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